Method and apparatus fob forming



Oct. 17, 1933.. GE|$T 1,930,970

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING BUILDING BLOCKS Filed April 27, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l P g K,

I A all: %4 I) 2 Dwwnl'ot JW M Oct. 17, 1933. H. F. GEIST 1,930,970

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING BUILDING BLOCKS Filed April 27, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 52 /Z a FIG-5 F] G "10 gwwznkw JMMXM 1 Jv/MQ /GM FIG-9 Patented oceiv, 1933 g *1- UNITED-I S T-A ES LP B T OFF CE- 1,930,9"l f, METHODAND APPARATUS Fon FORMIN G i 'BUILDINGVBLOCKS Herbert 1 Geist, c atmmgq o o s I Application April 2'1;i ssiq se ial'nov533,034 I 1'3clams;1401.1254041" j j, '1 I I p w ."l'lj invention relates to a methodof and ap paratus forthe manufacture of building blocks and is especially directed toward the manufam,

' ture ,of building blocks or bricks which may. be

5 used-in wall constructions.

The general object .of this invention is to pro: vide a method and an apparatus for the manufactureof a building block which block will enhance the appearance of the exposed faces of;

walls in which the blocks are used 'A further object is to provide a method and apparatus to.produc'e building blocks for use in, wall construction, whichblocks willpresent faces of non-uniform contouron the exposed surface 15, of thefwall when the blocks are set therein, but

wherein the faces of adjacentblocks will fprei sent substantially"flat, vertical and horizontal surfaces to the mortar joints, thereby securing a; wall-which will'have the advantages of standard,

blockconstructi'on, but wherein theappearance of the exposedv surfaces of the wall Willbe great- 1y mprbved y j aking'up of the'continuity of contour of the'units andmortar joints. Other objects of this invention will become ap- "to the accompanying drawings, and'the essential novel characteristics will be setv rort1 1;;m the claims."

Inthe drawings, Fig. lis a side elevation of an apparatus used to carry out my improved method; 2 is an'enlarged'detail of a portion of 1 the apparatus; Figs, 3 and. 4 aremodified forms of that portion of 'the apparatus illustratedjin Fig. 2'; Fig. 51s a diagram illustrating the'pro'g ress of the material through the different steps of "operation, which steps maybe performed by the apparatus shown inFig. 1; Fig. 6 is a perspective of astan'dard block; Figs. 7 and 8 are perspec tives f of a block manufactured by my improved 44; method; Fig. '1 illustrates a block formed by the apparatus shown in Fig.4; Fig. 8'illustrates a or 3;'F ig. 9 is an elevation ofaportionbfza wall constructed of standard block; Fig. 10 'isan elefacesof the mortar joints} and blocks 50,, v mortar joints were purposely, irregular for artis metre-as, rough, stone 'or small boulders. were 1 generally used; This required .acomparatively.

great amount of mortar as the units were'invaifiebkv. a e dins r e Th s, irre a i parent, from the following description, referring vation of a portionof awall constructed of blocks manufactured by. my improved method, and illuse tratins the unevenness ofcontour of theexpo'sedI w s v v '1' to withinthe'confines of the frame 1,5,,the latter'jif is rotated either manually or by means of suitable i' I i v.

gearing; 17, thereby [carrying the cutter fwires l05 and eircess mortar detracted materially from the strength of the'wall, Walls constructed of such units were costly, as much manual labor was're contour. Hence, the handling and; transportationoostsof such. units were abnormally'high'. I

To overcome the disadvantages above menti0ned', I propose to prises"forming amass of moistened clay or similar material into rectangularjblocks" or bricks by theusualmethodsflbut I thereafter subject the, blocks toan impact which deforms at leastnnej,

of the marginal'jedg'es' of the block to provide the; v

block withfat least joneiface, the marginal edges; of which are irregular in contour. Such method provides a block,'the opposite facesof which'are substantially parallel, but the contours'of' cer-" tainof the faces are irregular.

Referring'again tothe drawings, and especially a to Fig. Lwhere I'illustrate one formof apparatus which may be.used to'carry out my method of fmanufacturing building; blocks, moist clay is supa Vplied'eithermanually or bya mechanical conveyor 'to aforming apparatus, generally indicated at 10;

.This forming apparatus may comprise an extrudingmachine ll which may be of anybf the 1 well 'known types at present incommon use for extruding clay in the manufacture of bricks, tile and the like. fl'hisl'extruding mechanism 11 is adapted to extrudethe clay in a compact rec n mm. ped, columnas indicated by so n I Fi SLJ. 84 1115. v I 9073:

After e l y has been extruded into the col-f umn form,it isnext cut into comparatively small rectangular units orblocks 31. ,The column 301s fed; by the extruding mechanism 11 .onto'a 'conve'yor. 12, which progressesjthe column into 3a i v u l shearing device indicated at lei.) This shearing; block formed vby the apparatus shown in Fig. 2;

mechanism, may comprise, as shown, an open, f

ended cylindri'cal frame 15, through which thej' I 5 columnis fed." .Thekframe 1 5 carries a number of):

through the column. To facilitate this-cutting; operation, the progress of the column may be stopped by the stopping of the extrudingmachine a 11 and the conveyor 12, orthe frame 15 may be advancedat the same speed asthe column provide an improved method; 65 of .nianufacturing building, blocks, whichpcom the cutting operation, and then returned to its starting position while the column is being fed. a After the column has been severed into'units 31, it is next subjected to animpact to cause at 5 least one of the marginal edges of each unit to be slightly deformed. It is to be noted that the blocks or units 31, after they have been'severed, are still moist, andbecause of the nature' of the material these units adhere one to the other. The units 31 are forced from the cutting mechanism onto a table 18, by the progress of the column 30, which feeding movement further increases the tendency of each unit to adherev to the other.

Adjacent the rearmost end of the'table 18, is a units to a suitable loading point, where they may be loaded onto trucks or cars in ,the usual manner and placed in a kiln to be dried and hardened.

The foremost'end of the conveyor 20 is so located thatthe units 31, as they reach the. rearmost endv of the'table, will drop from the table onto the conveyor. This dropping causes at least one edge of the unit to be deformed, due to the weight of theconveyor and being adjustablevertically in,

ways 24 .of the bearingbrackets 25.

1 To further insure-the fact that the unit will 35 land in sucha, manner as to deform the corners,

I prefer to interposea plate 26 between the table 18'and the'conveyor 20. This plate is preferably pinned or pivoted to the table 18,as at 127, and slopes downwardly. toward the conveyor 20. The 40 angle of slope is'adjustable and isheld in adjustment by means of a bar or rod 28, pivoted to-the plate as at 29, and'se'cured to the table 18 by'suitable securing mechanism 510. v

It will be noted,as shown in Figs. 1 and s, that theunits 31 due to their adherence one to the.

other, project to a great extent beyond the end of the. table 1 8,1 before they drop. As the units are ,progressed they drop from the table to the con- 1yey,or, striking the plate 26 which extends intothe 60 path of the falling unit ,between the table and the conveyor, thereby deforming at least onev edge of each unit. This insures the fact that one edge will always be deformed. Due'to the factthat adherence between the units varies, partially .because they are cut by different cutting members,

and becauseof various inconsistencies in material from which they are made, it has been found that no two units fall in exactly the same manner.

; l-fence, no two units, are deformed the same, one

3 unit adhering greater at one end than the other,"

it drops at an angle, which causes'the unit to be deformed as shown at 33, in Fig. 8 ,v while another 'unit may drop causing a more or' less paralle deformation, as shown at 34, in Fig.10. a The plate 26 may, be made in such amanner that its length may be, adjustable, so that the roller 24 of the conveyormay beraised or lowered without interference with the plate. Likewise 5 3. 6 plate may be constructed as shown at 40in 76'FigJ-4, wherein the face of the plate is irregular toifu'rther deform the units.

From I the foregoing description, it Q is apparent that I have provided a method and apparatus for forming a novelbuilding unit, which unit is substantially rectangular in form but the contour of conveyor 20, which serves to carrythe formed 20 comprises a belt 21, supported by rollers 22'and pact to deform one of "the m'arginal edges of each certain of its faces are deformed, thereby providing a unit which may be used to materially enhance the artistic appearance of a wall in which the blocksare used without detracting fromthe strength of the wall. It is also evident that I have 80 provided a very simple method and apparatus whereby my novel building unitmay be readily, manufactured; shipped and handled at a minimumcost.'

'Iclaimz, I i 1. The method of manufacturing a building unit, comprising extruding a mass of clay into a substantially continuous rectangular column,

severing the column into rectangular units of substantially regular contour, and thereafter subjecting each unit to an individual deforming impact to alter the regularity of the contour of one face thereof.

" 2. The method of manufacturing a building unit, comprising extruding a mass of clay in.

a substantially continuous rectangular column,

severing the column into rectangular units of n I substantially regular contour while .the clay is j jplastic', subjecting each unit to an individual deforming impact to alter theregularity of the con tour of one face thereof while the mass of clay;

comprising the unit is still plastic, and thereafter" treating the units to drythem andthus prev nt further deformation.

3. The method of manufacturing abuilding unit, comprising forming a compositio'n'includ ing clay. into rectangular units, of substantially identical and regular contour, subjecting each: a

unit to'a deforming impact to deform a marginal edge thereof and wherein the deformation of one 1 1o unit 3 will vary from' the deformation of other units, and thereafter treating the units to prevent further deformation.

4. The method of' manufacturing a building block unit, comprising extruding a mass of mate- 1'15" rial including clay into a substantiallycontinm ous rectangular column, thereafter severing the column into rectangularunits of substantially regular contour, each unitbeing substantially identicalwith the otherunits so formed,"there'- 7 after subjecting each unit" to an individual dc"- ,forming operation to deform the continuity of one of the marginal edges of each unit, and thereafter treating such deformed unitsto pref vent further deformation. I, 5. The method of manufacturing: a building block-unit, comprising extruding a ass of m'a-j terial including clayjinto a substantially con- "tinuous rectangular column, thereafter severing the column into rectangular units of substantially regular contour, each unit j being 1 identical with the other units so formed, thereafter sub jecting each unit to an individual deforming imunit, the deformation of one unit varying from the deformation of the other units severed from the' column, andthereafter treating'such deformed units: to prevent further deformation. 1

6. The combination of a forming mechanism adapted to form material into substantially rec for the formed units, said guideway being inter: rupted whereby the formed units may drop therefrom, andmeans to interrupt the dropping '7; Thecombmation of anextruding mechanism s 14 tangular units, means toprogressthe material" through such forming mechanism, ag'uideway units may drop and an irregular'surface adapted adapted to extrude material into substantially rectangular column, means to sever the column into rectangular units, means to progress the material through such extruding and severing mech-' anisms, a guideway for the severed said guideway being interrupted whereby the severed units may drop and a planular surface adapted to interrupt the falling of such units and cause them to be deformed. v

8. The combination of an extruding mechanism adapted to extrude material into substantially rectangular column, means to sever the column into rectangular units, means to progress the material through such extruding and severing mechanisms, a guideway for the severed units, said guideway being interrupted whereby the severed to interrupt the falling of such units and cause them to be deformed.

9. The combination of a forming mechanism adapted to form material into substantiallyrectangular units, means to progress the material through such forming mechanism, a guideway for the formed units said guideway having an abrupt declivity therein, whereby the formed units will drop, and thereby be deformed a comparatively small amount. i

10. The combination of a forming mechanism adapted to form material into individual units,

with a guideway through which the formed units 7 are progressed, means to feed the formed units declivity therein, a deforming member associated with the guideway and forming the wall of the declivity and against which the units impact due to gravity; thereby slightly deforming said units in a manner wherein the deformation in one unit will vary from the deformation in other units.

11. The combination of a forming mechanism adapted to form a material including clay into individual units, a guideway having a, declivity therein for the formed units, a deformingmember associated with the guideway and forming said declivity, said deforming member secured to the guideway, means to vary the slope of saiddeforming member, whereby the, angle of impact between the unit and the member may be varied.

12. The method of forming a building block comprising forming a clay composition into recunit to prevent further deformation.

through said guideway, said guidewayv having a- 13. The method of forming a buildingi mock comprising forming a claycomposition into submation of other units, and thereafter treating the units to preventfurther deformation.

HERBERT F. GEIST, 

